Socks land student on wrong side of law

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Phillip See emerged from court, his combat pants just low enough to expose his grey Calvin Klein underwear.

But it was the black Marks & Spencer socks which the master of law student allegedly nicked from a clothesline in a Cremorne Point backyard that put him in jail.

See, 25, of Double Bay, appeared in Manly Local Court yesterday after he breached bail conditions in relation to break-and-enter charges laid against him by Operation Plasma investigators.

Operation Plasma is investigating several robberies at harbourfront homes since June in which plasma and LCD television sets worth up to $25,000 were stolen during weekend break-ins.

Yesterday, See pleaded not guilty to trespass, larceny and breach of bail.

He is accused of climbing over a high fence about midday on Wednesday into Stephanie Briet's backyard in Milson Street and stealing socks and two pegs from her clothesline.

See had been at an adjoining block of flats for a final inspection of a unit he had previously rented.

When asked why he had jumped the fence, he said he "urgently" needed to "hang a shit" and there was no toilet paper in the unit, which he had keys to, police said.

"Police pointed out that there was no toilet paper in the rear yard of those premises, either. To this, the accused replied that he was going to use leaves or a tap," a police fact sheet said.

Yesterday,the magistrate, Carmel Forbes, berated See's father, Chris, who was present in court, for failing to ensure his son adhered to his bail conditions.

See is prohibited from travelling without his father, except when going straight to the University of Sydney from home. The magistrate said See was already facing "very serious charges" from his arrest on September 9, and that he and his father "seem to think they can make up their own rules".

In granting him bail, Ms Forbes said See was to report twice daily to Rose Bay police and put up $1000 in cash on top of an existing $10,000 surety.

The prosecution had opposed bail, saying See was likely to commit further offences.